Specifications:A new optical formula from Sigma affording greater working distance from subject than the popular 100mm focal length. The special lens elements and optical coatings of this lens give superior sharpness and contrast across the focal plane

This thing makes your images more 3D, more alive. The colours are vivid, and you can see every tiny little hair on an insect´s leg.

I was expecting some problems with the AF, but none are present.
The AF is very accurate, very fast and very quiet.

I did not expect such quality when I bought this lens. I was expecting image quality about on par with the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM I use for bird shots. But this thing tops even that.

Hats off to Sigma and a deep bow of gratitude. This lens is a nature photographer´s dream come true. And it produces wonderful portraits also.

I traded my 135mm 2.8SF for this lens and I do not regret anything.
This thing feels more solid, has more accurate AF and produces images far superior to the 135mm tube.

Mar 20, 2009

ajitpalsinghOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jan 27, 2009Location: IndiaPosts: 0

Review Date: Jan 28, 2009

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $640.00
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Sharp results; nice contrast; well built; value for money;

Cons:

none

After reading many reviews from various sources, finally I purchased this lens two months back. Trust me, I was not disappointed and it came out to be more that I expected. My first time into macro photography and on a tight budget, I think I made the right choice.

the best deal is that it comes with a tripod collar which is extremely useful.

Ajit Pal Singh.

Jan 28, 2009

brucem48OfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 16, 2008Location: United StatesPosts: 791

Review Date: Jan 2, 2009

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $534.00
| Rating: 9

Pros:

well balanced girth to length ratio..tripod collar..2.8..rich,true colors and contrast SHARP. craftmanship in build quality. full time manual focus.

Cons:

watch auto focus. looses light and focal length at 1 to 1

although many will buy this lens as a macro i find the 105 and 70mm sigmas are equal in performance if you risregard the tripod collar. i have the 50,70,105, and this 150 beauty. what i bought this lens for was portrait work outside. switch this lens to manual focus and mount on a good tripod and you got in my opinion a lens that can't be beat for individual out door work. out of focus backgrounds are next to none. shoot wide open and at f4 and just drool at the results.. watch the focus because it will be critical up close due to the length of the lens. i use it on a 5d. would hesitate on a 1.6 body.. think it would be a little on the long side for portrait work. just a killer lens.

Jan 2, 2009

Larry CarterOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jan 7, 2002Location: GeorgiaPosts: 3739

Review Date: Dec 21, 2008

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Excellent build. Excellent optics.

Cons:

None

Dec 21, 2008

helimatOfflineBuy and Sell: On

Registered: Apr 6, 2008Location: CanadaPosts: 3755

Review Date: Dec 6, 2008

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $500.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

1:1, Internal focusing, well built

Cons:

Slow auto focus

This is by far the finest Sigma lens that I have tried. Wide open, it challenges and even surpasses the sharpness of many Canon L lenses. The Auto focus is a little on the slow side, but that is normal for a macro lens I suppose.

Late last year, I bought the Sigma 150mm f/2.8 Macro Lens for my budding interest in macro photography. First, I did some online research, including at photozone.com, then got this lens. What a boon to my early efforts this lens has proved. I can hardly take a bad photograph with it. My neighbor has a large rose bush whose branches hang over the fence into my yard, at about 8 feet elevation. The white roses on it bunch. Recently, handheld, using available daylight, I snapped a photo of one bunch, with this lens on my Canon XSi. Besides cropping and darkening the background, the photograph required very little editing beyond setting the mid-point grey tone and some sharpening in the image software. The lens captured the fine petal veins and subtle tonal gradations across the petals. The visual satisfaction of viewing this photograph repeats itself each time I rest my eyes on it. My live-in asked me to frame the photograph for the kitchen table. Then she put it in her room, on the bookcase next to her computer desk. Thankfully, I must have received a good copy of this lens. I do, however, notice a faint line of chromatic aberration on the edge of white rose petals contrasting with a very dark background, although strong daylight conditions may have contributed to this CA. Since then, I have not seen CA in my images using this lens. (In any event, this defect corrects fairly easily using the burn tool with a small brush set to highlights mode and the exposure at 100 percent, while running this brush along the edge like a surgeon.) I also own the Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro Lens and the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro Lens. Both perform as expected, and I issue no complaints. But when I do macro photography I typically turn first to the Sigma 150mm lens. Others have mentioned the convenience of keeping a distance from the subject while using this lens. Overall I give this Sigma lens a 9 out of 10. As to lens weight, I say, “Man up.” It goes with the territory.

Nov 30, 2008

Stroodle88OfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Sep 7, 2008Location: United StatesPosts: 0

Review Date: Nov 27, 2008

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $425.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Very sharp, even at f/2.8. Bokeh is amazing, comes with tripod collar

Cons:

Hunts a LOT with autofocus, especially when considered against Canon 60mm Macro which has great autofocus, have to really use manual focus to do the Sigma 150 justice, lens is also heavy

My main photographic passion has been macro photography. I current shoot with a Rebel XT and had originally purchased the Canon 60mm f/2.8 lens for macro photography. Where the 60mm was aso sharp as a tack, it lacked in two areas: first, the working distance to obtain macro-level shots was very short (you had to be centimeters from your subject to fill the frame) and when you did that, second, the bokeh for background objects was not so good - you could still distinguish what objects in the background were.

The Sigma 150mm produces a very nice bokeh, isolating your central subject very well. When stopped down to f/22, image quality is still very sharp. I had no detectable light fall-off in the corners also across all apertures.

Nov 27, 2008

mach250OfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Mar 22, 2008Location: United StatesPosts: 720

Review Date: Oct 8, 2008

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $460.00
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Sharper than a tack

Cons:

AF...but who uses AF with macro work? Sigmas history on the lens coating, very brittle

Oct 8, 2008

MendelOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Oct 2, 2008Location: NetherlandsPosts: 0

Review Date: Oct 2, 2008

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $499.00
| Rating: 8

Pros:

Price, build quality, sharpness

Cons:

Slow autofocus, keeps seeking for focus

This is a great macrolens, worth every cent. Sharpness is amazing, en feels strong en well build.

Only the autfocus is very poor, keeps seeking for focus point and takes a long time to do that.

f/2.8, nice working distance, awesome build quality, comes with a pouch, hood, and tripod collar, very very sharp

Cons:

Somewhat heavy, focus not up to tracking fast motion

I use this lens primarily for macro subjects, where it performs just as you would expect. The working distance is very nice to have for insects.

I also use it for regular 'prime lens duties', such as portraits. It works very well for this as the focus is accurate and the lens is very sharp. The colors seem to be cooler than some of my other lenses, but this is easily take care of with custom white balance.

Build quality is very high. I'm definitely not afraid of breaking this baby. It's a solid lens, but is very hand-holdable. I've never used it on a tripod.

High speed tracking with autofocus is not one of this lenses strengths, but using the focus limiter switch helps greatly.

Manual focus is smooth and full-time. It takes a lot of twisting to get from infinity to MFD, but that is to be expected with any macro lens.

As I said above, it's very sharp, even wide open. I don't hesitate to use f/2.8 (when the DoF allows me to).

I highly recommend this lens!

Aug 7, 2008

Manuel BarreraOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Sep 28, 2006Location: United StatesPosts: 27

Review Date: Jul 3, 2008

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $569.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Great build, comes with hood, tripod collar, great bokah, and very sharp

Cons:

As soon as I find one, I will let you know

I have quite a few lens, including numerous L lens, this is my first posting here, so that says a ton about this lens.

Jul 3, 2008

Dirk HiemstraOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 22, 2007Location: N/APosts: 0

Review Date: Jul 1, 2008

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Sharpness is unbelievable ! Fast AF for a macro. All time manual override. IF. Very high IQ.

Cons:

Doesnot accept Kenko/Soligor TC's.

I started macro with a Panagor 90mm MF and thought it was superb. Then I found a second hand Sigma 90mm AF and switched directly. After that I saved some money to buy a second hand Nikon 105 mm AFD. Wow, what a piece of equipment. And then this masterpiece was looking at me.. It is the best I've ever seen in macro, specially for bugs and other tiny creepy creatures. I confirm all positive reviews rated 9 and more.. !
Only drawback: I had to buy a new Sigma TC 1,4 because the Kenko/Soligor did not work: it hunts for some seconds and leaves the battery indicator blinking on empty.

Jul 1, 2008

Jman13OnlineBuy and Sell: On

Registered: May 1, 2005Location: United StatesPosts: 11220

Review Date: Jun 26, 2008

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $600.00
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Excellent build quality, HSM focusing is very quick for a macro lens, very high quality optics. Exceptional bokeh, completely free of chromatic aberration (to my eyes). Sharp at all apertures for macro or head and shoulders portraits.

Cons:

A tad softer at wide apertures when focusing near infinity.

This is a truly outstanding lens, and is simply a joy to use. Tack sharp wide open from 1:1 through about 10 feet away. Gets a bit softer at wide apertures beyond that, but sharpens right back up to tack sharp by f/4 at those distances as well. Exceptional color, smooth contrast, and absolutely beautiful bokeh make this wonderful for both macro and portrait use. Almost completely free of CA...I honestly can say I've never seen CA in a single shot. Exceptional handling, great build quality, and reasonably fast and very accurate AF.

Jun 26, 2008

Joe MarquesOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jan 21, 2004Location: United StatesPosts: 1168

Review Date: Jun 21, 2008

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $585.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

IQ, build quality, quiet AF, included lens collar and hood

Cons:

None

I've owned a number of excellent macro lenses and this might just be the best of the best. The IQ is stunning in terms of sharpness, contrast and color. AF is quiet and reasonable fast for a macro lens. Overall I could not be happier.

This is the first lens (I've tried many) on my 5D that makes pictures look similar to those from 1D. 1D (CCD low AA) had so wonderful look to its pictures that isn't really possible to reproduce with 5D (CMOS)

Sigma is so sharp that pictures look simply amazing. It is very well built and light. For a true macro lens, its focusing speed is very good. I sold 70-200 f/2.8 IS for this and have never looked back. I used to have two copies of 70-200 f/2.8 IS. Even though it is an very sharp lens, Sigma 150 macro beats its easily.